I am not sure if I have ever written about going to the doctor here. It is so easy! Thank you social health care. I find a few things annoying, but overall, I like the system.
We really like our 'house doctor' (as they call it here). There are actually 2 of them. A husband and wife team, who are just a few streets away. Since there are 2 of them working, you can normally get an appointment the same day. Also, every morning from 8:00-10:00 they have 'open hours,' which is where you can just go wait and see if they can see you. Advantage is you don't have to make an appointment or plan ahead, disadvantage is you may sit longer in the waiting room than if you have an appointment.
Ours use an online calendar to book appointments, which I love, because I dread calling in Dutch and as of last week they also have a smart phone app, so that is what hubby used at 12:30 this morning.
If you are too sick to leave the house, have no babysitter, no car, don't want to contaminate other people, etc...you can have them come to you! Normally you need to call early enough in the day to make sure they can come and they can't give an exact time of when they will arrive.
I had never done this, until last night. There is per village an on-call doctor in the weekends and nights who will come to you should you have troubles when the offices are closed. You will, of course, pay more (we are waiting to see how much it ends up), but sometimes it is worth it if you think you are dying (or possibly going into labor!).
I will spare a lot of details. Saturday we went out to eat. I only realized a day later that I ordered a salad, which is highly unadvised during pregnancy. I am not blaming the restaurant, but it is a possibility that I got something from there. When we left the restaurant my stomach was hurting, but I thought it was because I ate so much. I did not really eat the rest of the day, well I admit to having tons of M&Ms. I told hubby at night that I should not eat so much candy, because it makes me feel gross.
I woke up in the night almost every hour, because my stomach was hurting. I thought it was pregnancy stuff and considered it normal, considering I have just a few more weeks to go. After an hour of being unable to sleep I got up and that is when 'it' started. I think I visited the toilet, no joke, 40x yesterday. It was okayish the first part of the day. Then I went to my MIL's because all the family was there (sorry for possibly contaminating everyone!) and there it was about the same at home, but my stomach started aching. I told hubby around 6:00 that I wanted to go home. I was starting to feel miserable. In the car I almost thought I was going in labor. I was having so much pain.
Between 7:00 and 10:00 it was just awful. I will leave it at that. Hubby got home at 10:30 and called the doctor since I started throwing up. He came and checked the baby, my blood pressure, etc. He then wrote a few prescriptions and hubby went to the on-call pharmacy. Shout out to hubby for all of his help last night/today!
I was in bed and just stayed in bed while the doctor came. It was actually kind of nice. The house was a little embarrassing, but I am sure he has seen it all.
This is where I like our regular doctor. You can now pay with a card, instead of cash. This is a radical development here! That is one of the things I don't like. Most doctors accept only cash! So before every appointment, as if you don't have enough to think of, you need to go get money and have to guess how much it is going to cost. Last night, embarrassingly enough, we did not have enough cash in house to pay the doctor. But the benefit of a small village is that he said to come in this week and pay. He kept our paper to be reimbursed from the insurance.
Something else I had to adjust to is that most family doctor's practice is in a part of their house. It is clearly separated from their living area, but it seems so weird to drive up to someone's house to go to the doctor. You sometimes can hear kids playing or see them in the yard.
Also, none that I have been to have a receptionist. You normally ring a doorbell or just walk into a waiting room and when it is your turn the doctor, personally, comes and gets you. It is the exact same at the dentist.
Now, at 7:00 pm on Monday, I am feeling much, MUCH better! I was up tons in the night, so I went to my normal doctor at 8:30 this morning. The doctor who came last night, wanted me to go again today if I was not better, because of the pregnancy. Everything was good (all things considered) and the doctor said I need to drink and rest lots and hopefully in 2 days it will be over. Thankfully I was able to ship Mateo to his aunt's and I could sleep/rest most of the day. I have lost over 2 kgs. Not the best way to lose it, but hopefully I won't gain it back!
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Belgium/Belgium-Guide/Health/Doctors (a very informative article about the doctors here)
http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-belgium-healthcare-medical?gclid=COu9943klroCFQtY3godxDcARA (a little more info about Belgian healthcare)
Wow, that's even way different than here in Germany lol. Here it's pretty much the same as in the US, with just slight differences. They also have lots of "house doctors" and that's basically your general family practitioner. The rule is that if you want to see a different kind of doctor, like a dermatologist, eye doctor, gynecologist, etc, you have to get a transfer from the house doctor, but so far I've had no problems with skipping that step. Most of them have a secretary/assistant where you have to sign in and hand them your insurance card. No money up front is needed. Easy, no fuss, and all thanks to the super expensive social health insurance we pay for every month lol
ReplyDeleteHere it is also very easy to see a specialist. You may have to wait a few weeks for appointment, but that is ok. I think it is cheaper if you get a referral from the house doctor. I had to pay the eye doctor CASH for him to laser a mole off. I was shocked. I had to go get €150 from the ATM. I got most back from insurance, but it is annoying to have to pay up front. Hopefully soon they will change it!
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